


For Now

by Cupilcopter



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Just vault hunters bein soft, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:35:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29729805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupilcopter/pseuds/Cupilcopter
Summary: Two vault hunters enjoy a rare moment of peace.(( Safe for all audiences but may contain a smooch; mutual romance, but nothing unsafe! Just sappy silliness! ))
Relationships: FL4K/Zane Flynt
Kudos: 10





	For Now

It had been an impossibly long day. Amidst the din of music, clinking glasses and bottles and exhausted conversation, only two vault hunters remained at Moxxi's bar. Zane, with an old familiar drink to his lips, and Fl4k idly scraping a dried muddy pawprint from their coat pocket. There was a comfortable silence that hung between them. The evening was long ahead; Moze and Amara had already crept away, neither wanting to admit just how tired they were, but eventually giving in.

Now all that was left of their crew sat together quietly, one hoping the booze would wash away the post-adrenaline stiffness and afford him some sleep sooner or later, and the other without need of it entirely, simply taking some time to rest their weary joints and wiring in the company of a friend.

The music had begun to wind down, as well, a melody humming pleasantly with string instruments echoing from the speakers. These were one of many recent improvements courtesy of Ellie, and Fl4k had to say that they enjoyed it. Ever since they had discovered music, more decades ago than they could care to count, it had been life-changing.

The song trilled pleasantly and Fl4k nodded their head a little along with it.

Zane looked over, post-swig, and tilted his head in Fl4k's direction.

“Hey, tiger... Ever slow dance?”

The bot took a moment, eye roving in quick thought. “...No. You know, I don't believe I have.”

Zane leaned in, grinning. “Wanna learn?”

“I-”

“ 'Course ya do!” Before the hunter could reply, the operative had grabbed both their hands and dragged their significantly larger frame out onto the floor, sparks practically flying as their metal feet scraped along.

The bot stuttered a little, trying to speak over the sweet clamour of the song. “I do not know how-”

“Just follow my lead, darlin'!” Zane called. “Nothin' to worry about! Here-”

The human pressed in, extending one clasped hand out and away from their figures. With a cheeky smile, he guided the bot's other hand to his waist, and rested his own on their shoulder. Wordlessly, he stepped, nudging the other to go in the same direction. There was a second of confusion and a stumble or two before the hunter began to catch on, following the other's guidance silently, narrowing their eye in concentration.

Zane belted out a laugh at the intensity of their focus. “Ease up, there, killer- ain't so serious as all that. Just- sway! Like so-”

The two spun, once, slowly on Zane's part for Fl4k's sake, and as they rounded, the operative looked up. The bot felt a strange jolt- something they couldn't place. It was a moment of electricity as their eyes met. A malfunction, maybe?

“Lookit that! You're a natural,” Zane spoke loudly enough to be heard over the din, pleasantly lilting as his voice always did. The bot's eye flickered. Zane chuckled.

There was a low swell to the music that filled the air around them as if it were alive. The lights seemed blurred between their movement, the opressive heat, and something else the bot couldn't quite place.

Before they understood that it had happened, Zane's arms were around their shoulders, his head resting on their chest. This wasn't a dance Fl4k had seen before. This seemed more intimate than that. It was warm, and pleasant. The hunter was reminded of the summers in the archives, the sun flitting in and the soft winds. It was a kind warmth, an inviting one. It was a feeling that let you wrap yourself in it like a well-worn coat.

Fl4k wanted to say something, but their quiet amidst the song felt too sacred for that. Like speaking in a library. They knew the sanctity of this particular silence. Cautiously, Fl4k slipped their own arms around Zane's in return, attempting to move along in the same manner. Another spark flitted into existence; a soft sort of electric hum that hovered between them. They wondered whether Zane had noticed it.

The tips of his bristly white hair grazed their chin, creating a staticky tingle. Fl4k reflexively flinched a little at this. Zane pulled back, looking up at them.

“Y' alright there?” He kept just close enough to be audible over the song surrounding them. “Didn't mean t' make ya uncomfortable. Got a bit, eh, carried away--”

The human began to step backward with an apologetic gesture, palms forward.

Fl4k hastily reached out and took his hands in their own.

“No,” they insisted. “This is enjoyable.”

Zane looked at the hunter's fingers closed over his and beamed. “It is, isn't it?”

His nose and cheeks seemed to bloom with a pink hue that didn't appear to be from the lights. Fl4k stood, regarding their tangled fingertips, the deep hum of the slow bass that blossomed up through the floor, the faint shimmer of green reflecting from their eye and into Zane's.

The operative winked in his effortless way and pressed himself closer again. “Well, then. Care for another dance?”

Fl4k could feel themself smiling with their eye. “That would be-”

“-Enjoyable?”

Fl4k nodded. At Zane's lead, they began to sway again, this time perhaps just a bit closer than before. Fl4k could feel the alien fluttering of the other's heartbeat through his shirt against their metal, a pulse that rang like the siren call of Death. With a breathy sigh, the human laid his head against the bot's chest and everything seemed to still.

The dull beat of Zane's heart made the bot's own simulacrum of one feel foreign. They were suddenly acutely aware of their companion's delicate nature. There had been so many close calls for both of them in their journey together. Too many. Death was always just one stray bullet away. This was the agreement. The path of a vault hunter was a dangerous one. Fl4k had never balked at this knowledge, but of late, they'd found themself feeling uneasy at the thought of Zane's light flickering out.

Why this life, in particular? It was curious. Fl4k had never considered denying Death, but this one... he was different. In another way, all of their companions on Sanctuary were. It was a truth they would never give aloud, but it was there, just beneath the surface.

That tellingly human rythym against their core, the subtle rise and fall of tired breathing, only amplified the thought. It felt like an old wound being prodded at, but they couldn't place when exactly it had been inflicted. Perhaps the first time the vault hunter had fallen, and they had rushed to his side to revive him. The words of thanks that followed. The hollow pit that had found itself a home in their deepest parts. The relief of feeling the other's life return. Fl4k shook themself from that darkness.

Here, and now, they were together. In all the worlds, in all the universes- in every infinitude and possibility and twisting path, they had found one another, become unlikely allies, then friends, then... this. Nothing could last forever. This was the promise of the hunt. Death would take what she willed, when it was time.

They would have to watch as that steady pulse faded out, but not tonight.

Fl4k was snapped from their reverie as Zane pulled himself away, just slightly, reaching up for the hunter's face. He looked into their eye, questioning. Permission was being asked wordlessly. Fl4k hesitated for a moment, then gingerly pressed in. Zane's lips were soft against Fl4k's jaw, equally careful, as he reciprocated.

They kissed. It was warm, and simple, and effortless- familiar as each other's company had grown, as if it had only been waiting to occur.

That old ache was replaced with a new one, unfamiliar. A spark, a malfunction, a proverbial ghost in the machine. Maybe the pieces and circuits that formed their heart were taking in something new. The beastmaster couldn't say.

Fl4k embraced the snowy-haired vault hunter, who in turn laughed in quiet relief and kissed them again. Another song had begun to play, but that was irrelevant; their exhaustion, the length of the night, the fears, all irrelevant.

If this moment was all they could keep for their own, that was alright.

That would be the new promise.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! There's already so much beautiful writing out there for these two- I hope I didn't step on any toes here. I just wanted there to be a bit more fic out there of them- they deserve it! This one's just a short little thought that came to mind, but I would like to write something more in-depth with a plot at some point. In the meantime, have some fluff!


End file.
